China pledges donation to boost postal network in Asia-Pacific

China pledges donation to boost postal network in Asia-Pacific

03.09.2013 - CHINA HAS ANNOUNCED IT WILL DONATE 100,000 USD TOWARDS THE UPU’S DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION.

Bishar A. Hussein (left) receives the pledge from Ma Junsheng, China State Post Bureau’s director general, in Beijing

The news came as UPU Director General Bishar A. Hussein recently met Yang Chuantang, Chinese minister for transport, and Ma Junsheng, China State Post Bureau’s director general in Beijing, the Chinese capital. 

Ma praised the UPU’s work in the face of the challenges confronting the postal sector. “In this fast-changing environment, the UPU has been making great efforts to accompany the postal sector in its transformation,” said Ma. “As a member of the UPU family, China would like to play a more important role in the UPU’s activities, as well as support its work.”

The contribution will help fund the UPU’s efforts to modernize the postal network in the Asia-Pacific region. Areas of priority include enhancing the quality of postal services and improving remuneration systems among postal operators. These areas have been singled out for attention in the UPU’s regional development plan for the Asia-Pacific region. Such plans enable the world postal strategy set for the current work cycle (2013-16) to be achieved on a regional level.

Asia-Pacific has almost half of the world’s postal establishments, comprising more than 310,000 post offices, staffed by almost 1.7 million employees. In 2011, the region’s postal operators generated 11.7 billion SDR in revenues, almost 61 per cent of which came from postal financial services. Some 20 per cent was generated by letter post, while almost 12 per cent came from parcels and logistics services. China Post itself employs 927,800 staff and has 47,000 permanent post offices.

Working closely with the regions, the UPU has created regional development plans not only for Asia-Pacific but also Africa, Latin America, Arab region, the Caribbean, Europe and CIS countries.